Humanity, Season 1
by Blue-Kitsune-13
Summary: Shadow Ghost is an ex – con on the run from herself. Terra Grey is a young woman trying to find herself. When these unlikely allies are forced to co – inhabit with the Avengers, they discover more about the past, and their futures, than they ever expected. Can they unravel the secrets of the past, or will it tear them apart? Follows AEMH plot. Part 1 of 2, possibly 3.
1. Author's Introduction

IF YOU SKIP READING THIS INTRODUCTION, YOUR COMPUTER IS GOING TO **EXPLODE**!

Well, not really. I just needed to get you attention.

Hello. I am Blue_Kitsune_13, author of Humanity. You can call me Blue Kitsune or even just Kitsune for short.

This story was made in collaboration with CrashDummy of FictionPress, who actually created one of the main characters, Terra Grey. We also worked together to make a few other characters, but that will be in the second season.

This story is actually a re-write of a version of Humanity that I had posted earlier. That version, however, was filled with gaping plot holes and typos, and I wasn't doing any of the characters (canon or oc) honor. I have changed _a lot_ of stuff in this story.

Before we begin, I would like to explain my style/technique:

_Italics_ show sarcasm and/or emphasis (if a single/a few words), or a flashback (if a paragraph or more).

**Bold** is used for author's notes, which I am hoping there will be few of.

I use a … for a passage of time, a change in place, or both.

Marvel Moments are like one-shots within the story, to show life outside of missions, or just to help build up characters and character relationships.

I am not good at writing fight scenes, so don't complain too much!

I would also like to note that this story is a songfic (see my profile for an explanation).

Please read, and enjoy!


	2. Prologue

The Helicarrier flew in low over the New York harbor; its main window was shattered, and smoke poured out.

On the inside, agents ran to a fro, looking for something, or someone. One low-ranking agent, a young woman with blonde hair and freckles, noticed a movement in the recently evacuated control room. She reached for her belt, which contained a gun and a collapsible staff. She grabbed the gun, and entered the room.

Standing at Nick Fury's control station was a shadowy figure.

"Freeze!" the agent yelled, aiming her gun.

The figure turned, and almost dissipated into thin air. Confused, the agent looked around. She saw the figure reappear by the window, right before it jumped out of the Helicarrier.

The agent ran towards the control station. Her hand hovered above the intercom button, as if wondering if she should call for back-up. Instead, she grabbed jetpack and followed the figure to the ground.

…

The streets were eerie and abandoned. The agent walked, looking around constantly. Every noise, every flickering, every movement would make her flinch.

There was a flash of movement, and the agent saw the figure ducking into an alley. The agent fired her gun, but failed to hit her target.

"Damn." She muttered, entering the alley.

The alley was dark and cluttered with trash. Tense, the agent looked through the shadows for any signs of life. Suddenly, the nearby street light went out, leaving her in total darkness.

"Well," a dark feminine voice chuckled, "you sure gave one hell of a chase. Just how stupid are you?"

"You're not going to get away." The agent said bravely. She turned wildly, searching for the course of the voice. Sweat ran down her neck.

"Really, now?" the voice asked, echoing. "It looks like you can't stop me."

The figure reappeared, and leaped at the agent. The agent fired her gun, but it went right through her assailant.

"Should have called for back-up when you had the chance." The figure said, pinning the agent down.

The agent desperately reached for her staff, and whipped it out.

"Oh, so we're a special agent, aren't we?" the figure chuckled, backing off a little. "That'll make it even more fun."

The agent expanded the staff, a swung at the figure. Every move the agent made, the figure could dodge.

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to end this play-fight now." The figure said. "I'm on a tight schedule."

The agent screamed as the figure turned to smoke, and engulfed her.

…

The sun was high, yet the streets were empty; no one wanted to get near what had happened the night before. Still, a squadron of SHEILD agents searched the streets.

One peeled off, and saw the young agent in the alley.

"Come quick!" he yelled. "I found her!"

The young agent was slightly bruised, and knocked unconscious. Her gun was missing, and her staff was clutched tightly in her hand.

"Call Fury." The squad leader commanded. "Tell him that we found Morse. But not the Shadow."

**Ooh! Creepy beginning, huh?**

**Song: Stand My Ground**

**Artist: Within Temptation**

**Address/Link: **** watch?v=4sCkAvh50Vs**


	3. Descending

The Avengers' Mansion was calm and peaceful, its inhabitants doing various free-time activities. Except for Tony Stark, who had to give the newest Avenger, Hawkeye, a tour of the mansion and grounds.

"And this," Tony said, is the Assembly Hall."

Hawkeye nonchalantly glanced upwards at the height of the pyramid-shaped room.

"You're really pushing this whole 'Avengers assemble' thing, aren't you?" he muttered.

"What?"

"Never mind." Hawkeye said. "So, why the huge pyramid in the giant, underground cavern? Couldn't this space be better utilized?"

"Actually, it is being utilized. This 'big, empty cavern' is perfect for our needs." Tony smirked.

"Okay, Tony, put your money where your mouth is. How is having a giant, barely-filled hole beneath a big, heavy mansion beneficial for us? Especially when the mansion could fall onto a giant pyramid, impaling someone?"

"I, uh," Tony stuttered, thinking.

Suddenly, Jarvis's voice rang out.

"Sir, Mr. Fury is at our doorstep."

"Fury, as in Nick?" Tony asked. "Well, we better go."

"Saved by the bell." Hawkeye chuckled.

"Hey! I _can_ explain it, but you wouldn't understand it."

…

Sure enough, Nick Fury was at the mansion's front door. Hawkeye gave him a glare.

"What do you want this time?" Tony asked, in full Iron Man armor.

"We need your help."

"Um, didn't you just need our help to defeat the Leader and save the world?" Wasp said, flitting in front of Nick Fury's face.

"Maybe SHEILD is losing its edge. I still won't be coming back, though." Hawkeye smirked.

"This is nothing to joke about." Nick Fury said coldly, silencing the Avengers. "Because of the gamma incident, we had to put a less important situation off to the side. Now, it is our top priority. Right before the Break Out, SHEILD was attacked by a shape shifter. Unfortunately, we could not question her before she escaped. For weeks, she has been evading us, but now, she's returned to New York, and is fighting us head on. In the past week, she's beaten my best men and women, and put a few in the hospital. I can't put more agents at risk, but she has to be stopped."

"So you're asking us to catch her?" Antman asked. "I might be able to design a cell that could contain her."

"That'll be trickier than you think." Fury said. "She's not like most shape shifters."

"All right, we'll keep that in mind. But how are we going to find her?" Iron Man asked.

"With this." Nick fury tossed Iron Man a data chip. "The software should help you track her down. Let's just hope you _can_ catch her."

…

"Jarvis, pull up the map." Tony said, his Iron man mask lifted.

Antman, Captain America, Iron Man, Black Panther, Hawkeye and Wasp were in the Assembly Hall. Hawkeye was chewing bubble gum, and leaning back in his seat, his feet on the table.

"This must be defective." Antman. "This software is supposed to locate the shape shifter based on her brainwaves. They should be the same, no matter what form she takes"

"So why isn't anything showing?" Black Panther asked, examining the holographic map. "Jarvis, show the shape shifter's last known location, and anywhere else we know she's been."

Several red blips appeared on the map.

Several of the blips lay on the Helicarrier's standard flight path, but most were located within the city.

"Hey, I know that place." Captain America said. He pointed on a series of blips, which were all clustered on a single property. "The Freedomsake Bookstore. I used to go there as a kid."

"Looks like it's abandoned." Tony said, reading some information that Jarvis had pulled up. "Seven years ago, it was burned down. The three family members who ran the place were killed, but police never found out who did it. Local rumor has it that the place is haunted by the youngest member of the family, a Ms. Jaiyana Samara."

"An abandoned building that's supposedly haunted?" Antman asked. "Sounds like the perfect hide out to me."

"I don't know." Wasp said, staring at the screen. "It seems too obvious, you know?"

"Oh, come on!" Hawkeye said, pushing his gum into his cheek and sitting up. "All bad guys are obvious, that's just how they are! I say we get over there, and…"

"Sir," Jarvis interrupted, "the shape shifter has surfaced."

"Bring it up." Iron Man said, crossing his arms over his chest.

A new blip, bright blue, appeared on the mansion's lawn."

"Or," Hawkeye said, "we could just walk outside.

…

The Avengers (sans Thor and Hulk) rushed outside. What greeted them was unexpected.

A tall figure stood on the lawn. It was shaped like a woman, but had no features. Instead of flesh, it looked like it was made of smoke.

"Oh." Tony said. "That's what Fury meant when he said she was different."

Hawkeye instinctively fired an arrow.

"Maybe you shouldn't have done that…" Wasp said, as the shape shifter opened two previously-unseen red eyes, and made a sort of chuckling noise.

The shape shifter leapt into the air, enveloping herself in a dense fog, which blotted out the sun.

…

Everything happened quickly. The Avengers found themselves surrounded by fog, unable to see the sun or each other.

"Where is she? Where do I shoot?" Hawkeye called out.

For a moment, everything was silent. Then, someone screamed.

**Yes, this was short. But it's only the first chapter; things are going to pick up speed from here on out.**

**Song: Shot In The Dark**

**Artist: Within Temptation**

**Address/Link: **** watch?v=mLz61g0JLxQ**


	4. Darkest

"Where is she?" Hawkeye yelled. "Where do I shoot?"

Wasp shot off stinger blasts all around her. One of her blasts bounced back at her, knocking her out of the sky. She screamed in pain. Antman shrank down to protect her, catching her tiny body.

"Well, she can hit us!" Hawkeye yelled.

"Yeah, I noticed!" Wasp yelled, rubbing her head.

"Well, that was stupid of you." A feminine voice echoed.

Hawkeye saw something moving, at shot an arrow at a less-than-pleased Antman, who quickly shrank, while Wasp flew back up. Suddenly, the arrow flew back at them, striking Antman with an electric shock.

Black Panther heard Antman scream, and decided not to attack.

Captain America ran through the fog, unable to find anyone, until he almost tripped over Antman and Wasp. Hawkeye was nowhere in sight.

"She throws our attacks back at us!" he said to Iron Man, who had found Panther in the fog.

Iron Man flew out of the fog, and started scanning it.

"She's not _in_ this thing, it _is_ her!" Iron Man said. "Our weapons don't seem to have an effect…"

Iron man saw that Panther was the only one not enveloped by the shape – shifter. For some reason, she wouldn't touch him.

"Panther!" Iron Man said. "She seems wary of you! It might be your vibranium!"

Panther threw the daggers all around him, and the fog wavered. Suddenly, it flew into the air (almost knocking Iron Man out of the sky), and disappeared completely.

"What the hell just happened!?" Wasp asked, rubbing the part of her back where she had been hit. Captain America helped her and Antman up. "How did we beat her?"

"It would seem that vibranium is one of few things that can harm our shape shifter." Panther said.

"Well, then, you'll need to stock up on daggers, Black Panther." Antman said. "I say we go to that bookstore or whatever it was and find her."

"Wait!" Captain America said. Where's Hawkeye?"

The Avengers looked around, but Hawkeye was nowhere to be found.

"I'll scan for his ID card!" Iron Man said. Unfortunately, the search ended quickly. His card, along with his bow and quiver, were found on the mansion grounds. Hawkeye had disappeared into thin air.

"Did she take him?" Wasp asked.

…

"_Well, that was stupid of you." A salient feminine voice called out._

_There was odd something about it, but Hawkeye couldn't put his finger on it. It flowed through the air like soothing silk, and yet struck fear into one's heart at the same time. Also, it seemed to come from everywhere._

_Hawkeye saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He instinctively shot, and almost hit Antman and Wasp._

_The arrow came shooting back, and hit Antman._

"_Ah, crap." Hawkeye muttered._

_Before he knew it, Hawkeye was cut off from Wasp and Antman. The fog surrounded him, and the only source of light was a small patch of blue sky._

_He could barely make out Iron Man saying something about being wary, and then he felt a sting in his side._

_He looked down, and saw blood on his side. Touching it, Hawkeye suddenly felt tired, and fainted._

_As he passed out, the last thing Hawkeye saw was a pair of red eyes staring down at him._

…

"She took him." Wasp whispered, in shock. "He's gone."

"This just got serious." Iron Man said.

**Sorry for the late update, I just couldn't get the action sequence correct. I still think I should change it…**

**Second official chapter, second **_**Within Temptation**_** song.**

**Hint: There will be a lot of **_**Within Temptation, Halestorm**_** and **_**Rasmus**_** songs. They just seem to match my characters very well. **

**Song: Lost**

**Artist: Within Temptation**

**Address/Link: **** watch?v=htbkhqSU1Pk**


	5. Depths

Iron Man, Black Panther, Captain America, Antman and Wasp were in the Assembly Hall.

"What do we do?" Wasp asked. "Hulk and Thor are still out on patrol, and neither is answering their ID card."

"This makes things a lot more difficult." Captain America said. "But not impossible."

"Judging by the nature of her abilities," Antman began, "I don't think I could find a way to contain her. At least, not quickly enough."

"Okay." Iron Man sighed. "We need to find her. However, this mission is just to get Hawkeye back. Do not engage the shape-shifter. Not until we can find a way to contain her."

"Oh, great." Antman muttered. "More work for me."

…

_Hawkeye had literally lost his senses. He couldn't hear anything, couldn't see anything, couldn't feel anything around him. It was almost like he was submerged in a pool of water._

_All he knew was that it was warm and dark. So comforting…_

_Suddenly, pain shot through his side, and Hawkeye's eyes shot open._

Hawkeye woke up, moaning. He rubbed his throbbing head, and examined his surroundings.

First things, first, he was lying on a long wooden table, which was covered by a white cloth. His shirt was missing, and his side was bandaged. On a smaller table nearby was bowl filled with blood, towels, and purple fragments of something. An IV was in his arm.

Hawkeye saw that he was in a poorly disguised rotting building. Half-filled and empty bookshelves lined the walls, some leaning on each other, and the sky-blue ceiling paint was chipping. However, the chandelier-like light in the middle of the room still glowed bright.

There was a spiral staircase in the far corner. A saying was painted on the wall next to it:

Pulvis et umbra sumus

"Pull-vice what now?" Hawkeye muttered, clutching his side to ease the sudden pain that came with speaking.

"Pulvis et umbra sumus." A recognizable voice called out.

A young woman stepped down the staircase, her left hand gliding along the handrail. She held an open book in her right hand.

The woman was tall, thin, and beautiful. Her ebony braided hair contrasted her pale Caucasian skin. Her hazel eyes shone with a kind of mischievous. She wore a simple black tee, worn leather jacket, dark denim jeans, and combat boots.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Hawkeye asked, facing the woman.

"Ah, to be ignorant." She chuckled. "It means, 'We are but dust and shadow.'"

There was an awkward silence.

"Of course." The woman sighed. She looked at the page in her book, and closed it. She leaned on the hand rail, and held up the book so Hawkeye could see the cover. It read: _Great Expectations_.

"I take it you don't read classics?" she asked.

"No, I never really was good at reading." Hawkeye said, secretly searching his pants for his ID card. _Damn_, he thought. _In my other pants!_

"So you're a _cliché_ circus boy. Nice to know." the woman walked down the stairs and placed the book on a shelf. "Too bad. I think you would relate to Pip well. Feeling like you've been used, like you're someone else's tool. Not knowing what you're supposed to do, or even what you want to do. You seem like the kind of guy who lost something. The guy that just feels frozen. Paralyzed." She paused, and spoke in a barely-audible voice. "Like me."

The woman turned towards the bookshelves, looking for something. Hawkeye made a slight motion towards the IV in his arm, attempting to remove it.

"I wouldn't do that." She sighed. "Nor would I try to use that smoke bomb. There's no way you could run in you condition."

Hawkeye put the smoke bomb back in his pocket. "What, do you have eyes in the back of your head?"

"Yes, actually." She chuckled. "Now, I don't think we've had a proper introduction."

…

The Quin-jet ride was silent.

The Avengers all seemed nervous, or even scared. Wasp looked out the window, seeing their destination.

The two-story building was old, and in ruins. The walls were sagging and falling down, any paint that had existed was gone, and all of the widows had been boarded up. A large hole was scorched into the roof, and a burnt wooden sign hung above the door.

"Are you _sure_ this is the place?" Wasp asked.

…

"Who the hell are you, and why did you kidnap me?!" Hawkeye asked.

"Surely, you must recognize me." The woman chuckled, pulling out a book and putting it on a lower shelf.

"You're the shape-shifter."

"Give Circus Boy a prize!" the woman turned around, as she turned to dust and rematerialized sitting in the chair next to Hawkeye.

"Why am I here?" Hawkeye asked sternly.

"Oh, drop the macho act." The shape-shifter said, leaning back in her chair. "You should be a lot nicer to the person that just saved your life."

…

"I'm sure." Captain America said. "But that fire did more damage than I thought it would."

"No way is this someone's hideout." Iron Man said. "It's completely inhabitable!"

"It is our only lead, though." Panther said in his usual nonchalant tone.

…

"Woah, what?" Hawkeye asked. "Saved my life?"

"Aren't you wondering why you're bandaged up, and why there's a bowl of blood over there?" The shape-shifter asked.

…

"All right, Avengers." Iron Man said, standing up. "We're going in."

…

"But, the Avengers…" Hawkeye began.

"They're already here." The shape-shifter smiled evilly.

…

"Here we go…" Wasp said, feeling the suspense climbing.

…

"But they aren't the only ones." the shape-shifter continued. Her voice was suddenly somber. "You really don't want to be here in ten seconds."

"Why?" Hawkeye demanded. "Who's coming?"

"The ghosts of my past." The shape-shifter sighed.

Suddenly, Hawkeye heard a ticking sound.

"Five…" the shape-shifter sighed, standing up. "Four…"

"Three…"

"Two…"

…

"Surrender!" Iron Man yelled, literally breaking down the doors.

The room was a mess. Paint was peeling off of the walls and ceiling, and the only light came from holes in the ceiling. Bookshelves and burnt book littered the floor.

Before anyone could do or say anything, the floor fell out from beneath them.

**Argh, I've been struggling to do something in honor of Halloween! I am the worst writer ever. :(**

**If you can't tell, I'm jumping back and forth to try to make this a bit more suspenseful. I failed.**

…

**Sorry for the late update, but I'm taking AP classes for the first time this school year, and they're eating up all of my time. I'll have to update only once a month from here on out, and possibly for holidays (**_**if**_** I can write something festive). Anyway, time for this chapter's song!**

**Song: A World So Cold**

**Artist: Three Days Grace**

**Address/Link: ** watch?v=fGxcvkiTRe8


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